Places porcelainjungle Wants to Go

A rare Japanese-style temple and a Shinzo Abe Statue, honoring both spirits of the past and modern connections between Taiwan and Japan.

This abandoned prison is now a museum chronicling the oppression of political prisoners in the not-so-distant past.

These large speakers once broadcasted propaganda across the strait to the People’s Republic of China.

A temple featuring a giant Tudigong statue, quirky roadside dinosaurs, and stunning Taipei panoramas.

A glimpse into Taiwan's coal-mining past.

Behind a 300-year-old temple hides a small tomb said to house the bones of 17th-century Dutch soldiers.

A museum of puppets and puppetry covering all Asian styles.

Taiwan's first stone fortress is also the best preserved Qing Dynasty-era city on the island.

At a museum dedicated to the millenia-old rites and art of Buddhism, the Buddha's reputed tooth is held as an object of worship.

A museum about rituals, ghosts, and demons from around Asia, set in the middle of the peaceful Jiufen.

Movie buffs will love this Taiwanese director’s ode to film history.

An antiquated aquarium housed in a converted government anti-nuclear bunker.

A monument to placate the spirits of an ancient forest.

The first miniatures museum in Asia contains all sorts of itsy-bitsy wonders, including the world's smallest working television.

This former factory turned private museum contains surreal and creepy artwork created by Robert Y.

This attraction is part anthropological journey and part amusement park.

Visit this church that's shaped like a giant glass pump either to cater to women or to reference a tragic local tale. Or both.

Life-size animals and furniture made entirely from cardboard fill this odd paper-themed restaurant.

This collection of lakeside pagodas and temples are flanked by giant lions, tigers, and dragons as well as their welcoming maws.

Looking for a crappy restaurant? Pull up a porcelain bowl and enjoy your meal.

Once a prosperous mining village, this tiny Taiwanese town is now overrun with cute cats.

A rare pod of derelict midcentury Futuro and Venturo houses lines a semi-abandoned beachfront resort outside Taipei.

Grandpa Rainbow felt the neighborhood needed some color, so he picked up a paintbrush and went to work.

The Shinsegae Department Store is the largest of its kind in the whole world.